Automated devices for performing chemical analysis, such as blood analyzers, ordinarily must be supplied with replaceable, liquid dispensing tips for testing samples, such as blood serum samples. Such arrangements typically include a tip carrier positioned adjacent to fluid sample containers. In order to provide the replaceable tips, the tips are manually inserted into holes defined by the carrier by the operator of the device. Indexing the carrier by the apparatus places the tips in the correct location to be picked up by the automated metering system of the apparatus.
In such arrangements, correct manual insertion of the tips by the operator is facilitated by the configuration of the holes in the carrier, and by the configuration of the pipette tips. Specifically, such tips are ordinarily of a hollow, generally conic or tapered configuration, having a relatively large end, and a relatively small end. Due to the configuration of the carrier, the tips cannot be improperly loaded by the operator, since the configuration of the tips prevents them from being inserted in an inverted or otherwise improper orientation. Each tip is thus presented in an upright orientation, with the relatively large, open end at the top thereof.
However, the proper orientation of the tips is achieved at the expense of individual handling of each tip. To minimize the handling requirements for such analyzers, it is desirable to provide an arrangement which facilitates automated operation by minimizing the required handling and feeding of such pipette tips by the operator. The present invention provides a pipette tip handling apparatus which permits a plurality of the tips to be loaded at once, rather than separately and individually, into the device for subsequent feeding to the associated analyzer apparatus.